


In High Places

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF
Genre: Acrophobia, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blogging, Brotherly Love, Challenge Response, Dare, Fear of Heights, Harassment, Mild Threats, Multiple Personalities, Multiple Selves, Panic, Peer Pressure, Protectiveness, Rescue Missions, Self-Sacrifice, Short One Shot, Stress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 20:11:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12465012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: Jack has, unfortunately, passed his chronic fear of heights on to his Egos. The younger the Ego, the stronger the fear, it seems, but when Chase receives multiple demands for a Heights Challenge on his Bro Average channel, how can he refuse?





	In High Places

“Chase? _Chase_. Hey! Look at me.”

For a few seconds Chase was able to tear his eyes away from the chasm underneath him and latch onto Jackieboy’s similar gaze—no, not identical, because his eyes weren’t filled with terror. He made the mistake of glancing back down and the icy fear slammed back into his body, nailing him to the spot.

 _What was I thinkin’, coming up here?_ he wondered, breathing shallowly and blinking hard against the wind as it made his eyes water. Not so long ago, he had been scrolling through the top comments on his most recent vlog and had immediately seen the dare:

 **Elevator_tater** 1 hour ago

DO A HEIGHTS CHALLENGE BRO!!!!!

REPLY     11K Likes   4 Dislikes

He had done his best to ignore it, but “Elevator_tater” apparently had friends everywhere and the next thing he knew, he was buried in comments pestering him about it until it was a threat to his dignity to refuse.

When the other Egos heard of this plan, they were adamant that he avoid the challenge however possible. Jack had, unfortunately, ingrained his chronic fear of heights into his Personas, save Jackieboy and Anti, both of whom seemed entirely fearless. The younger the Ego, the stronger the fear, it seemed, as Schneep in particular had begged him to call it off.

“We still need you!” he cried in dismay, grabbing him by the shoulders and then by the head, nearly knocking his hat off. “You must submit to brain scan, Chase, because you cannot be right in the head if you are doing this! Don’t let the spammers take you to your doom!”

At the time, when his feet were still on solid ground, Chase had laughed it off and pushed him away. “Bro, I’m gonna be fine! They aren’t spammers; they’re real, live fans and if this makes ’em happy, let’s get it! That’s what the vlog is for: making people happy!”

“It does not make _me_ happy,” Schneep informed him despairingly, pulling off his glasses to wipe them against his lab coat. “And neither will seeing your dead body!”

He was right. Of course the doc was right. Giving in to the fans was the biggest mistake of Chase’s life. He had started his livestream simply by announcing, “This one’s called: Scaring Myself Straight Off a Cliff!” It wasn’t as accurate as he had hoped; as soon as he reached the so-called cliff—the edge of a rooftop—he had frozen. He couldn’t even bring himself to speak to the camera, which was what he was best at! It hung limply at his side, his fingers numb and sweaty around it.

That was how Jackieboy Man had found him. The superhero offered a mild noise of concern and made to move closer, but Chase jerked his head as much as his paralyzed body would allow.

“No. No—” He still had enough pride to refuse a hand…and he had a feeling that the trip down would be even more terrifying than the trip up. His heartbeat thundered a step faster at the thought.

“Chase, you don’t have to do this,” Jackieboy declared, raising his voice just a fraction as he added, “C’mon, let me help.”

The wind picked up a notch and Chase swayed dangerously, the world narrowing to that long, long distance between him and the pavement. “I really—I wanted to—I’m supposed to— It’s my _job_. I…” Whatever words left unsaid caught in his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to swallow and finding it impossible.

“Well, my job is helpin’ people in trouble,” Jackieboy reminded him as he flew into Chase’s field of vision, blocking his view of the open air. “And that includes you! I won’t let you fall.” So saying, he carefully slid his arms underneath Chase’s and lifted him from the roof, patting the younger Ego’s back as he yelped in alarm and buried his face in the red jumpsuit as they began the agonizingly slow descent.

As soon as Chase’s boots touched the earth, he let out a sob of relief, sprawling onto the grass and letting the scent fill his chest as he remembered how to breathe. As soon as he dared to open his eyes again, he saw Jackieboy picking up the camera he had dropped nearby, which was still streaming. Blue eyes narrowed behind his mask, he addressed the fans watching.

“Any of you seen a public service announcement? They probably seem retro to any of you younger fans out there, but here’s mine: Nobody should pressure you into doing something that you don’t want to do. If any of _you_ wanna man up and do this challenge—” He raised his eyebrows and nodded meaningfully. “ _Elevator_tater_ —that’s fine, but don’t rope Chase into it! And don’t any of you try to pressure him again. You can make suggestions like always, but anyone who has other ideas…” His eyebrows came down, his irises ignited with powerful silver light, and his relaxed tone fell away completely. “…Just know he has friends in high places.”

With that he shut the camera off, exhaling in satisfaction and spinning around. By this point Chase had sat up to stare at him incredulously, to which Jackieboy offered nothing but a tilt of the head. “We should probably go tell Schneep that he can stop cleaning the slab in his morgue,” he suggested cheerfully, extending a gloved hand to help him up.


End file.
